Tag Archives: damask love

If you’re anything like me, tonight has been blocked on your calendar, you’ve asked your family members not to bother you and you are more excited to watch TV than you’ve been in centuries because… the premiere of the crafting show Making It is finally airing TONIGHT on NBC! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The broadcasting of this show is huge because:

Crafters are about to be on a major network! There’s been reality shows about chefs, models, make-up artists, celebrities, families, etc. but this is the first show of its kind that is about to highlight the wonderful well-roundedness of crafters on such a huge national network like NBC. EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Amy Poehler/Nick Offerman AHEM LESLIE KNOPE/RON SWANSON REUNION! For all of us Parks and Rec fans, seeing these two on screen together again is LIT-ER-ALLY the best thing ever! And the combination couldn’t be better. An established craftsman and woodworker like Nick + a non-crafter like Amy = the ultimate match made in heaven for TV to capture all kinds of audiences. Whether you craft or not, you are represented!

THE MAKERS! Guys. I am SO EXCITED for this casting. You’d think I know the contestants… and that’s because I kinda sorta get to say I do! Amber Kemp-Gerstel and her gorgeous flower headband is one of the eight makers that were cast on the show. Even though she’s originally from the Bay Area, she’s been living in South Florida for years running her Damask Love crafting business and she is EVERYTHING. I got a chance to talk to her once, and she’s just the best human ever. I’ll be rooting for her and everyone from Miami should too!

4. The Press Junkets/Promos! If there’s one thing I enjoy about movie and TV shows are the press junkets that the actors do leading up to it to reach all possible audiences. From the Today Show crafting session to Amy’s appearances on late night shows with Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers (with hilarious stories about how she met Nick), to the pun-offs, and all the content on the Making It YouTube channel… I’m IN IT!

I must confess, another reason I’m so excited about this show is because when they were casting for it I actually considered entering… until I saw the application and felt my skill-set wasn’t as broad as I wanted it to be to put myself out there on TV. And now that I’ve seen the lineup, I’m so relieved I didn’t apply, or I might have been the first to go home lol!

I’m sure there are more reasons but as you can tell by my overuse of exclamation marks and capitalization, I’m not very coherent right now. Point is, I simply cannot wait to watch the premiere and whole series and I’m already praying for a Season 2 and this first one hasn’t even started.

I hope you all join me tonight as I’ll be live-tweeting the show from my @WCBCraftStudio twitter account. Let’s make #MakingIt trend! Y’all THREADY for this?!

Two weeks ago today, HSN was having one of their “24-hour craft event” programming days, where from midnight to midnight, all the products they show are craft-related. They’re also known as “Kathy is definitely filing for bankruptcy soon” days in my inner circle.

I’ve been a victim of HSN’s 24 hour days for over a year now, and during that time, I’ve succumbed to my desire to purchase the following items (in no specific order):

We R Memory Keepers – Alphabet Punch Board: When I tell you that I will be in physical pain if I don’t buy whatever Amber shows, I’m not kidding. As soon as I saw her punching out letters in seconds, I could see myself making 387845437984 banners with the punch board. Even though I have a Cricut machine where I can cut literally anything in any size, sometimes I don’t want to crank it up and do this whole operation with mats and digital designs if I’m making something simple. Please recycle this same explanation for 95% of the products I’ll list below. I have, unfortunately, not yet used my punch board 😦 but I will!

Xyron XRN510 Creative Station: I believe Beth is the one to blame here for selling this so well, but honestly the Xyron adhesive products family sells itself. I’ve actually used it a number of times when I’ve had intricate items that I need to stick but don’t want to use glue for, and it made my life so much easier! I did have to go back in with a weeder to take out the adhesive from the holes, but no biggie. Still saved me tons of time!

The Diamond Press by Crafter’s Companion: Sara Davies could sell me a used needle if she wanted to. She is such a masterful crafter and showcaser of items, that I am defenseless against her charm! She showed the Diamond Press on its launch day at HSN, and I got it with the auto-ship (when they release more die cuts in future months and you sign up to get them automatically as soon as they come out). I haven’t used it either, but I already have a couple of events/ideas lined up to use it in the near future (::cough cough:: #MyBestFriendsWedding ::cough cough::).

We R Memory Keepers-Banner Punch Board: Amber, I’m going to start billing you for my purchases. Why do you do this to me, girl? You sold me on this so hard, I couldn’t turn away. And don’t even try to act innocent, I got receipts! Anywho, I bought this baby because again, I might not really feel like jump-starting my Cricut to cut big triangles for a banner, nor do I want to do it by hand. This seemed like a good enough reason to buy the punch board, and I did use it right away to create a banner for a friend’s birthday!

Now, for my most recent acquisitions, which just arrived and I’ve already started using –

Xyron Sticker Makers Magnet Tape & Mega Runner: Since one of my crafty friends raved about her ATG tape runner gun, I’ve been wondering whether or not it’s worth the investment for me, but I hadn’t settled on it until May 9th, 2017, when HSN decided to bundle a Xyron tape runner with two sticker maker mini stations AND a magnet tape roll as well, all for $29.99. Who can say no to that?! If you can, I don’t trust you.

Crafter’s Companion 3D Embossing Folders Set: I don’t have a Cuttlebug (kind of like the Diamond Press, but bigger), I’ve never wanted one and I never thought I would, but when I saw Sara Davies making this on live TV, I have never wanted something more in my life! My crafty friend offered to gift me her old Cuttlebug machine and I said DONE! I took advantage of the Flex-Pay option HSN was offering that day so that I wouldn’t feel as guilty seeing the full price in one swipe, and now these stunning folders are mine! I almost bought the gold wax they use to get this effect, but they were sold out. Things selling out are my only saving grace.

I love all of these things so much, even if I haven’t had the chance to use them as much yet. I know I’ll make use of them soon, whether it’s for items for #MyBestFriendsWedding or for any other event, I’ll get my money’s worth. In the meantime though, I think I should stay away from any upcoming 24-hour craft events for my well-being (and my wallet’s!).